Stamped Concrete in Hamilton

The common stamps are flagstone, slate, cobblestone, brick and wood plank, each in a few sizes. Colour is a base colour plus an accent colour worked into the texture, which makes the pattern read as stone instead of a flat tint. We bring the charts and samples to the quote so you can hold them against the house.

Usually, yes. We pick the base colour to sit with your brick or siding and the accent to pick up the mortar or the trim, and we can run a border of real pavers around the stamped field to tie it to existing interlock. Send a photo of the house by text or email and we bring the closest samples.

Cracks come from the ground, not the pattern. We dig out the soft soil, compact crushed gravel in layers, set the forms to a slope that drains, run wire mesh through the slab and make it at least four inches thick. Control joints are cut where a slab wants to crack anyway, so any movement happens in a straight line.

That flaking is spalling. Water gets into the top of the slab, freezes and pops the surface off, and de-icing salt makes it worse; a slab finished while water sat on top, or never sealed, flakes first. Light spalling can be ground and resurfaced. A slab flaking through and sinking is better replaced on a proper base.

Light foot traffic after about a day or two, patio furniture after a few days and cars after about a week, depending on the weather. The sealer goes on once the slab has cured and dried, and we give you the dates for each step before the pour so you can plan around them.

Yes. Sealing keeps the colour rich and stops the surface soaking up salt, oil and stains, and it is the one bit of upkeep stamped concrete asks for. The first coat goes on after the cure. After that, re-sealing every few years, when water stops beading on the surface, keeps it looking new.

Sand or a traction grit for the first winter, and a plastic shovel rather than a steel scraper. Rock salt and most de-icers draw water into the surface, and on a slab that is still curing that is how flaking starts. From the second winter a sealed slab handles an occasional light de-icer, but sand is still the kindest choice.

Pick stamped if you want a seamless surface with no joints to weed and a stone look for less than real stone. Pick interlock if you want to lift and relay a section later, if your soil heaves badly, or if you want a texture only a paver gives. We build both, so you get a straight answer.

The size and thickness of the slab, how much digging and haul-away the old surface needs, the pattern and how many colours go into it, borders and steps, access for the concrete truck, and whether we seal it and tie in a walkway or porch at the same time. Each is a line on your written quote, and the quote is free.

Yes. We set the forms so the finished slab falls away from the foundation and sits below any basement window, vent or weep hole, and we check it with a level before the truck arrives. Water running toward the house is the most common fault we are asked to fix on someone else's driveway.

Often, yes. A porch that is sound underneath but worn, flaking or stained on top can be ground, resurfaced and parged, with a stamped or broom finish on the new surface. Our concrete porch and step repair page explains it, and when a porch is too far gone to save.

A backyard patio or a walkway on your own lot does not need a building permit. A new driveway, or widening one, needs the City of Hamilton's access approval where it crosses the boulevard, with limits on how wide the approach can be. We check that when we quote and handle it as part of the job, and a free Ontario One Call locate comes before any digging.